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An
Opinion By Jan Bergemann Published March 3, 2012 Last year Donna Berger's Community Advocacy Network (CAN) gave State
Representative George Moraitis (R-91 Ft. Lauderdale) the "Legislator of the Year Award"
for (quote) "outstanding
legislative contributions toward the best interests and well-being of
community associations across the State of If
Moraitis's bill H1195 served
the well-being of community associations, I still wonder which provision
in H1195 Donna Berger would be referring to when saying "best
interests and well-being." H1195 was a bill that contained lots of
vague wording, but nothing that could really help community associations
to deal with the many problems these associations currently are facing.
Admittedly, the vague language and warped provisions caused only more
lawsuits, but that only serves lawyers, definitely not associations and
the owners paying the bills. But
-- as we all know -- opinions differ, and so do private and business
agendas. I can definitely understand why lawyers are cheering about such
bills, but claiming that these bills are "in the best interests"
of community associations is definitely a stretch. But
it looks like Representative Moraitis is this year trying to outdo himself
with H319. The bill started out
pretty reasonably when originally filed, with just a few changes needed to
make it a helpful bill. But that was before Moraitis butchered a once good
bill with his amendments. Adding
the so-called Some
of the wording used in other provisions of the bill opens doors for
election fraud and selective revocation of voting rights, not even going
into the possibility that amendments of the governing documents and
recalls of board members are no longer possible. Make
no mistake, Moraitis and the folks who wrote the bill text are attorneys
-- attorneys who should be familiar with legalese -- if they didn't win
their BAR license at the county fair. And that can mean only one thing.
The vague and convoluted language is always chosen for one purpose: To
create more billing hours for the law firms behind this bill -- and to
claim next year that another "clarifying bill" is needed. Despite
the fact that some of Moraitis's colleagues seriously criticized some of
the provisions -- some even going as far as saying that they couldn't vote
YES on the bill if it doesn't undergo serious amendments -- the bill made
its way through the House without much resistance. But the vote on the
House floor just showed that all these statements made in committee with
audience present serve no other purpose than blowing smoke. All of the
representatives, who came out with the strong words against the bill
during the committee hearings, voted YES on the House floor on Wednesday. KUDOS
to Representative Darren Soto from Orlando -- the Lone Ranger standing
up on the House floor for the rights of the owners. If
the Senate or the Governor doesn't stop this run-away bill which contains
provisions that are actually harmful to associations and their still
paying owners, we will have another year where the It
makes me wonder anyway how the Republican leadership in With
H319 we have another bill creating more havoc for folks living in
community associations -- and The Superhero For Special Interest: George
Moraitis. Anybody who single-handedly succeeds in creating more misery
for the owners of about 4.5 million properties located within community
associations definitely deserves the award for But
honestly, Moraitis is not the only one who should be blamed. How about the
voters who voted him into office -- a legislator who works against the
interests of his constituents? As long as PLEASE CLICK ON LINK BELOW TO READ THE ACTUAL BILL TEXT: |